diff --git a/cmd/stbak/cmd/archive.go b/cmd/stbak/cmd/archive.go
index 9090f01..544dc8c 100644
--- a/cmd/stbak/cmd/archive.go
+++ b/cmd/stbak/cmd/archive.go
@@ -75,13 +75,13 @@ func archive(
 	overwrite bool,
 ) error {
 	dirty := false
-	tw, isRegular, cleanup, err := openTapeWriter(viper.GetString(tapeFlag))
+	tw, isRegular, cleanup, err := openTapeWriter(tape)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	if overwrite && isRegular {
-		if err := cleanup(false); err != nil {
+		if err := cleanup(&dirty); err != nil { // dirty will always be false here
 			return err
 		}
 
@@ -98,13 +98,13 @@ func archive(
 			return err
 		}
 
-		tw, isRegular, cleanup, err = openTapeWriter(viper.GetString(tapeFlag))
+		tw, isRegular, cleanup, err = openTapeWriter(tape)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 
-	defer cleanup(dirty)
+	defer cleanup(&dirty)
 
 	first := true
 	return filepath.Walk(src, func(path string, info fs.FileInfo, err error) error {
diff --git a/cmd/stbak/cmd/remove.go b/cmd/stbak/cmd/remove.go
index 7974f32..4eb9532 100644
--- a/cmd/stbak/cmd/remove.go
+++ b/cmd/stbak/cmd/remove.go
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ var removeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		defer cleanup(dirty)
+		defer cleanup(&dirty)
 
 		metadataPersister := persisters.NewMetadataPersister(viper.GetString(metadataFlag))
 		if err := metadataPersister.Open(); err != nil {
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ var removeCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	},
 }
 
-func openTapeWriter(tape string) (tw *tar.Writer, isRegular bool, cleanup func(dirty bool) error, err error) {
+func openTapeWriter(tape string) (tw *tar.Writer, isRegular bool, cleanup func(dirty *bool) error, err error) {
 	stat, err := os.Stat(tape)
 	if err == nil {
 		isRegular = stat.Mode().IsRegular()
@@ -136,9 +136,9 @@ func openTapeWriter(tape string) (tw *tar.Writer, isRegular bool, cleanup func(d
 		tw = tar.NewWriter(counter)
 	}
 
-	return tw, isRegular, func(dirty bool) error {
+	return tw, isRegular, func(dirty *bool) error {
 		// Only write the trailer if we wrote to the archive
-		if dirty {
+		if *dirty {
 			if err := tw.Close(); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}